Engineering News

August 25, 2016

The First Autonomous, Entirely Soft Robot

Flexible Material Can Make Any Window 'Smart'

Little Light Powered Soft Robotic Caterpillar

Nanorobots Target Cancerous Tumors

Latest Headlines

updated 10:45pm EDT

Underground Radar Used to Locate Post-Katrina Damage

Aug. 25, 2016 — An innovative underground radar technology is helping the City of Slidell in south Louisiana to identify and document underground infrastructure damage that had gone ... read more

Promising Route to the Scalable Production of Highly Crystalline Graphene Films

Aug. 25, 2016 — Researchers discovered a procedure to restore defective graphene oxide structures that cause the material to display low ... read more

Tech Issues Cause Most Drone Accidents, Study Finds

Aug. 23, 2016 — Researchers have found that communications links and other technical problems were the cause of most reported drone accidents. This has led to a call for increased airworthiness regulations for drone ... read more

New Approach to Determining How Atoms Are Arranged in Materials

Aug. 23, 2016 — Researchers have developed a novel approach to characterizing how atoms are arranged in materials, using Bayesian statistical methods to glean new insights into the structure of materials. The work ... read more

Stretchy Supercapacitors Power Wearable Electronics

Aug. 23, 2016 — A future of soft robots or smart T-shirts may depend on the development of stretchy power sources. But traditional batteries are thick and rigid -- not ideal properties for ... read more

Spider Silk: Mother Nature's Bio-Superlens

Aug. 19, 2016 — Hot on the heels of a paper revealing that a team of researchers has used a nanobead-derived superlens to break the perceived resolution barrier, the same team has achieved ... read more

New Method to Identify Microscopic Failure in Polymers Before Total Failure Occurs.

Aug. 17, 2016 — Scientists have recently found a new way to identify microscopic damage in polymers and composite materials before total ... read more

DNA Naturally Fluoresces: Discovery Opens Door for Staining-Free, Super-Resolution Imaging

Aug. 15, 2016 — Scientist shave recently caught DNA doing something that has never been seen before: it ... read more

Researchers Test-Bed New Bendable Concrete That Is Stronger and More Durable

Aug. 17, 2016 — A new concrete has been developed to reduce the time needed for road works by more than half, report scientists. This ... read more

Curbing the Life-Long Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury

Aug. 17, 2016 — A fall down the stairs, a car crash, a sports injury or an explosive blast can all cause traumatic brain injury (TBI). Patients often recover. But in the days or weeks following the hit, they can ... read more

Avatar Robot Staves Off Sick Children's Isolation

NATO Pilots Train to Escape from Underwater Cage

Robot Beats Humans at Table Football

New Humanoid Robot Controls Its Own Movements

Designing Ultrasound Tools With Lego-Like Proteins

Aug. 25, 2016 — Ultrasound imaging is used around the world to help visualize developing babies and diagnose diseases. Sound waves bounce off the tissues, revealing their different densities and shapes. The next ... read more

Hexagonal Boron Nitride Semiconductors Enable Cost-Effective Detection of Neutron Signals

Aug. 16, 2016 — Researchers have developed an alternative material -- hexagonal boron nitride semiconductors -- for neutron detection. This material fulfills many key requirements for helium gas detector ... read more

De-Icing Agent Remains Stable at More Than a Million Atmospheres of Pressure

Aug. 12, 2016 — Scientists have examined the high-pressure structural behavior of magnesium chloride, which could work to neutralize biological weapons, outlines a new ... read more

Lack of American Engineers and Scientists

Aug. 11, 2016 — A new study identifies factors that could lead more young students to successful careers in the science, technology, engineering and math ... read more

Five Ways Bioengineers Want to Use 3-D Printing

Aug. 11, 2016 — Now that 3-D printing has made it easier to generate custom-made prosthetics, bioengineers are looking ahead at manufacturing actual cellular material. Such technology could be the basis for ... read more

Engineering a Better Biofuel

Aug. 10, 2016 — The often-maligned E. coli bacteria has powerhouse potential: in the lab, it has the ability to crank out fuels, pharmaceuticals and other useful products at a rapid rate. A research team has ... read more

Simulating Complex Catalysts Key to Making Cheap, Powerful Fuel Cells

Aug. 9, 2016 — Using a unique combination of advanced computational methods, chemical engineers have demystified some of the complex catalytic chemistry in fuel cells -- an advance that brings cost-effective fuel ... read more

New Class of Artificial Proteins Created

Aug. 9, 2016 — Researchers report that they have developed a new class of artificial proteins. In the long term, the results could lead to better treatment of cancer and ... read more

Synthetic Biology: Engineering a Chemical Switch Into a Light-Driven Proton Pump

Aug. 9, 2016 — Synthetic biology is an emerging and rapidly evolving engineering discipline. Now scientists have engineered a chemically switchable version of the light-driven proton pump proteorhodopsin -- an ... read more

1400 Km of Optical Fiber Connect Optical Clocks in France and Germany

Aug. 9, 2016 — For years, researchers have been working on an optical fiber connection between the German and the French national metrology institutes, PTB and LNE-SYRTE. The 1400 km long link is now completed: it ... read more

How to Engineer a Stronger Immune System

Aug. 9, 2016 — With a trick of engineering, scientists have improved a potential weapon against inflammation and autoimmune disorders. Their work could one day benefit patients who suffer from inflammatory bowel ... read more

Researchers Find Brain's 'Physics Engine'

Aug. 8, 2016 — Whether or not they aced the subject in high school, human beings are physics masters when it comes to understanding and predicting how objects in the world will behave. Cognitive scientists have ... read more

Transmitting Energy in Soft Materials

Aug. 8, 2016 — Soft materials are great at damping energy -- that's why rubber tires are so good at absorbing the shock of bumps and potholes. But if researchers are going to build autonomous soft systems, ... read more

Prototype Chip Could Help Make Quantum Computing Practical

Aug. 8, 2016 — An important step toward practical quantum computers has been made, with a new paper describing a prototype chip that can trap ions in an electric field and, with built-in optics, direct laser light ... read more

Shape-Changing Metamaterial Developed Using Kirigami Technique

Aug. 5, 2016 — Engineers have developed a new shape-changing metamaterial using Kirigami, which is the ancient Japanese art of cutting and folding paper to obtain 3-D ... read more

Newly Discovered 'Blue Whirl' Fire Tornado Burns Cleaner for Reduced Emissions

Aug. 5, 2016 — Researchers say their discovery of a type of fire tornado they call a 'blue whirl' could lead to beneficial new approaches for reduced carbon emissions and improved oil spill ... read more

Biofuel Production Technique Could Reduce Cost, Antibiotics Use

Aug. 4, 2016 — A new technique gives biofuel-producing microbes the upper hand against unwanted invaders. The development could reduce the cost and environmental impact of producing liquid biofuels and biochemicals ... read more

Computer Modeling for Designing Drug-Delivery Nanocarriers

Aug. 4, 2016 — Researchers have developed a computer model that will aid in the design of nanocarriers, microscopic structures used to guide drugs to their targets in the body. The model better accounts for how the ... read more

Quick-Destructing Battery to Power 'Transient' Devices

Aug. 4, 2016 — Scientists have developed a working battery that self-destructs in water. It's part of a field of study called 'transient electronics.' The battery project presented many challenges, ... read more

‘Liquid Fingerprinting’ Technique Instantly Identifies Unknown Liquids

Aug. 4, 2016 — A new company will commercialize sensing technology that can perform instant, in-field characterization of the chemical make-up and material properties of unknown liquids. Validere aims to develop ... read more

Thursday, August 25, 2016